Unknown Orange frag at LFS

[tang_man_montreal]

I'm hoping someone can help me out without a pic.

I was at my LFS lastnight, and noticed a BEAUTIFUL small orange frag, which the LFS labelled simply as "Polyps" (lol)... I then noticed the price.. only $9.99 Cdn!!!

I immediately put it on hold so that I could attempt to find out what it is before purchasing it.

Heres the description to the best of my abilities:

- BRIGHT orange.
- Upon preliminary inspection it looked like a Capnella sp... Although I've never seen Orange Capnella.
- I looked closely at it, and it didn't seem to have pinules like dendronephtya. It looked more like extended polyps, which is why it led me to think it was Capnella...

So I've been searching since last night. And the closest thing I've seen that resembles, is Scleronephtya. But again, I'm not sure.

Aside from Scleronepthya, are there any other orange corals that look similar to Capnella? I'll pass by tonight with my camera and snap a pic of it for y'all... Then again, for $9.99 Cdn, should I just pick it up and take the chance?

[zenya]

Did you look at the Dendronephtya? I mean was it that orange?

[ReefDiver]

I think we need a picture of this one. It is either a "dyed" coral or an aposymbiotic sp., both of which I would personally steer clear of!!

[EricHugo]

I agree, Steve. Do you mean sclerites? Pinnules are characteristic of soft coral polyps...they are the "feathers" on the tentacles. There are any number of potentially orange soft corals, and you can;t see the sclerites in all Dendronphthya. Also, I personally don;t think that a cheap price means that a coral reef animal is disposable, and it assuredly means another will be collected down the road to replace it owing to the "demand" at the retail level.

[tang_man_montreal]

Here are the pics of the one at the LFS...

PIC1 (http://myhost.no-ip.com/coral-id1.jpg)

PIC2 (http://myhost.no-ip.com/coral-id2.jpg)

Thanks!

[ReefDiver]

Hi TangMan

From the picture, it does not appear to be dyed. It certainly does appear to be an aposymbiotic coral, probably in the family Nephtheidae and possibly Dendronephthya sp.? Can you see any visible sclerites within the tissues because this is not noticable in the picture?

These are very demanding corals in terms of nutritional requirements and I would suggest that you leave it in the LFS tank!

Too bad, as they are wonderfully beautiful corals!!

[zenya]

The pinnules thing is what actually led me to thinking of Dendronephtya. Now by looking at it,I really don't know but it sure looks like one.
It does look very beautiful but care requirements are just unrealistic at this point and Steve got the best advice to leave it where it is:)

[tang_man_montreal]

Thank you to all who gave me information regarding this coral.

I finally decided against purchasing it.

[EricHugo]

Too hard to tell which it is - probably Dendronephthya, but you'd have to look at the sclerite arrrangements around the polyps to know for sure. In any case, not purchasing it was probably a wise move!

[Toutouche]

I have seen this same coral at the same LFS (TangManMontreal and I live 5 minutes apart). He also asked me about it, and it is indeed a Dendro. I knew right away which one he was talking about. It is a flourescant yellow/orange with red polyp type. The sclerites are not arranged as in a Sclero. I've compared the coral to what I have seen and read in your book. I was also going to get it 2 months ago when it first came in, but I knew it was beyond keeping in an aquarium. It is also sad, but I have been looking at it everytime I go in, and it has slowly been withering away. Hopefully, one day enough will be known about feeding these guys in an aquarium, as IMO, they are about the most beautiful and colorful of all corals.